Today, Sony reveals their new F5 and F55 cameras. Expect to see prototypes shooting on locations near you. Working cameras ship in January 2013. Some have called the F55 a companion to the F65, and the F5 an upgrade beyond F3. Many will call them Sony’s first comfortably shoulder-resting, modular, compact 4K cameras. read more…

Madelyn Most wrote at Camerimage last November: “There was a certain buzz, not only about the new cameras, but what impact digital technology was having on the actual job and responsibilities of cinematographers. Has it really surpassed film?” Madelyn prepared a 12-page booklet of observations by cinematographers, mostly British and American, assembled fast and furiously in time for the BSC show this past… read more…

Picture this: a Makita/Dewalt cordless drill. Cut the top drill section off. Glue a dedolight-like focusing LED on top. You get the rough idea of the new Lowel GL-1 light. It’s kind of a new take on the old sun-gun, which was a hot halogen handheld light tethered to a battery-belt. Film historians will remember the sun-gun and its “Statue… read more…

Patty Nast Canton has been revitalizing the Domke brand and product at Tiffen since February of this year. The stylish and useful results were unveiled at PhotoPlus Expo in NY yesterday. Patty’s roots are in the men’s fashion industry. She outfitted Charlie Sheen and Tony Soprano. The new Domke bags come in a choice of fabrics: classic canvas, cordura, ballistic… read more…

We’ve heard much about anamorphic and vintage lenses lately. Why not combine both? HAWK VINTAGE´74 Anamorphic 2x lenses were shown at Cinec a few weeks ago. The set currently includes V-Lite 28, 35, 45, 55 ,65, 80, 110, and 140 mm — with more to come. The new Hawk Vintage ’74 lenses provide the lower contrast, chromatic characteristics and flares… read more…

Sebastien Gonon, Cinematographer, wrote, “Lately I used Bausch & Lomb Super Baltars on an Alexa. I was quite happy with their soft look, pastely colors, producing nice flares and sharp when T Stop wasn’t opened too wide. They are soft, but not too much, which can be the case with uncoated lenses that can be way too flat.” But, before you… read more…

Last call to send ideas and suggestions on Chrosziel’s cage for DSLR and compact-sized cameras. Keep the color coding? Hot/cold shoe? Visit the Chrosziel forum. More background information on the Cage Project. Test versions of the MultiCage plus system ship to participating dealers next week.

BIRTV, Beijing’s International Television & Film equipment exhibition was held this year from August 22 – 25. Attendance was up 5%. The Chinese market seems to be showing interest and acceptance of high caliber products. Around 500 manufacturers exhibited, directly or through their local representatives: Arri, Sony, Tiffen, Grass Valley, Cooke, Fujifilm, Angénieux, Canon, P+S Technik, Cartoni, Shape, Transvideo, Miller,… read more…

GoPro announced the new Hero 3 for delivery around mid-November. It will do 4K at 15 fps. I expect 4K 24 or 30 fps isn’t far behind. See Filmtools or GoPro websites for details. No more complaining that there won’t be enough 4K content to justify a new Sony 84-inch XBR-84X900 4K LED TV for your home. The only shortage… read more…

In our 10/10/12 article Fall 2012 Film and Digital Trends, Masa Yasumoto of Sanwa Cine Equipment said, “In Japan we are still busy with film cameras presently, accounting for a 50/50 split between film and digital productions. Fujifilm made an announcement that they will stop selling negative film (sometime next year), so I think that will accelerate the transition from film cameras… read more…

This just in via Jacques Lipkau-Goyard: Flyboarding. And you thought remote-control model helicopters could provide interesting camera angles? Now imagine if you added a waterproof camera for a new take on handheld? Attach the custom accessories to your jet ski and don the special water-propelled shoes. You could be the human camera remote head. Lawyers may be circling in greater… read more…

Vantage Film announced that they are investing € 7 Million in development of new lenses and tools. This represents the largest expansion in the company’s 20 year history. Owners Peter Martin and Wolfgang Baumler confirmed today that Vantage Film’s latest investment will allow the company to expand its capacity in research, development, design, production, manufacturing and distribution of their Hawk motion picture… read more…

Photokina took place in Cologne from September 18-23. The theme, for me, was full-frame format: 24 x 36 mm, some in bodies lighter and smaller than their APS-C predecessors. Leica introduced the new M, with Leica-designed 24-megapixel CMOS sensor, live view, HD video and compatibility with all previous M rangefinder lenses. Canon’s new 6D has a 20.2 megapixel CMOS sensor…. read more…

More than 60 guests crammed into Bei Grazie restaurant for the bi-annual Cooke Cinec colloquium on Sept 22 in Munich. As always, a highlight of the event was hearing from colleagues about the state of the industry worldwide, and learning about trends, challenges and achievements. Geoffrey Chappell moderated the discussion. Thanks to Tae-Jung Kim, Cinema Department, Koil Corporation, Seoul, Korea, for recording… read more…

Reliable sources confirmed that Cooke Optics Ltd is indeed working on Anamorphic lenses. They are planned to be ready by end of 2013 or early 2014, and my guess is they will be front cylinder, classic style Anamorphic primes, with the traditional “Cooke Look.” Memo to Danys Bruyere and Denny Clairmont from Jon Fauer: Your comments at the Cooke dinner… read more…

The 2012 PDN PhotoPlus Conference + Expo will take place on October 24-27 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. PhotoPlus is the largest photography event in the United States. Expo Hours Oct 25th 10:00am – 5:00pm Oct 26th 10:00am – 5:00pm Oct 27th 10:00am – 4:00pm

Actually, it’s still all in the family. The Richter/Stahl family, that is. ARRI has been a family business for the past 95 years–shared by the Arnold and Richter/Stahl families. Robert (Bobby) Arnold, the son of co-founder August Arnold, sold his 50% share of Arnold & Richter Cine Technik to the grandchildren of Robert Richter. Both families have been personally involved… read more…

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